Wroclaw: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Until 1945 Wrocław was the German city of Breslau. At the end of the war its German people were expelled, and Poles arrived to take their place — many of them expelled in turn from Lwów in the east, which became Soviet. A city changed its whole population in two years, and rebuilt itself. Ninety minutes, flat; look down for the dwarfs.
A short history of Wroclaw
A bishopric was founded here in the year 1000, the first evidence of a town on the island in the River Oder. In 1241 the Mongols destroyed it, and it was rebuilt by German settlers. The city changed hands several times: to the Bohemian Crown, to the Habsburgs and, in 1741, to Prussia, and it was called Breslau. It had one of the largest Jewish communities in Germany, and in 1854 the Jewish Theological Seminary opened here, an important centre of Jewish scholarship. In 1945 the Nazis held it through a long siege that destroyed most of it; after the war it passed to Poland, the Germans were expelled, and Poles arrived in their place, many of them from Lviv. In 2016 it was European Capital of Culture.
The ten best sights in Wroclaw
1RynekOne of the largest old market squares in Europe
2Old Town HallGothic gables, and a cellar restaurant of the Middle Ages
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3Papa Krasnal
The first of the city’s hundreds of bronze dwarfs
4White Stork SynagogueThe synagogue of 1829 that survived Kristallnacht
5St Elizabeth’s ChurchClimb the tower for the roofs of the old town
6UniversityThe baroque Aula Leopoldina hall
7Sand IslandAn island of churches in the Oder
8Tumski BridgeThe lovers’ bridge of padlocks
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9Ostrów Tumski
The cathedral island, lit by a lamplighter at dusk
10CathedralA lift to the top of one of the towers
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Wroclaw →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Wroclaw:
Free walking tours in Wroclaw
The square and the four faiths
Until 1945 Wrocław was the German city of Breslau. At the end of the war its German people were expelled, and Poles arrived to take their place — many of them expelled in turn from Lwów in the east, which became Soviet. A city changed its whole population in two years, and rebuilt itself. Ninety minutes, flat; look down for the dwarfs.
- Rynek · One of the largest medieval market squares in Europe, ringed with gabled houses in every colour and with a block of buildings in the middle around the town hall. Almost all of it was rebuilt after the siege of 1945, when the Germans held the city as a fortress for three months.
- Old Town Hall · A Gothic town hall of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries with an astronomical clock and pinnacled gables. In its cellar the Piwnica Świdnicka has served beer for some seven centuries, one of the oldest restaurants in Europe.
- Papa Krasnal · In the 1980s an anti-communist movement called the Orange Alternative painted cheerful dwarfs over the slogans the police had painted out, mocking the regime with absurdity. In 2001 the city put up a bronze dwarf in their memory, and now more than six hundred little bronze dwarfs hide around the streets.
- White Stork Synagogue · Breslau’s Jewish community was the third largest in Germany, home to the philosopher Edith Stein’s family and to the founders of German socialism. This synagogue of 1829, hidden in a courtyard, survived Kristallnacht, it is said because burning it would have set the neighbouring houses alight; the Nazis used it as a car repair shop. Restored in 2010, it is again a synagogue and a centre of Jewish culture.
- Plac Solny · The Salt Square, where salt was traded in the Middle Ages, now holds flower stalls open twenty-four hours a day. Around it lies the District of Four Denominations, where a Catholic church, a Lutheran church, an Orthodox church and the synagogue stand a few minutes’ walk apart.
- St Elizabeth’s Church · A tall Gothic church whose tower, about ninety metres high, can be climbed for the best view over the square. Beside it stand two small houses joined by an arch, called Hansel and Gretel, once the homes of the church’s almshouse.
The islands of the Oder
The city was born on islands in the Oder river, and the oldest part, the cathedral island, is still a quiet world of churches and gas lamps. On the way are the university, a market hall and a huge painting brought from Lwów. Two hours; end at dusk for the lamplighter.
- University · A Jesuit college of 1702 on the river, with the Aula Leopoldina, a ceremonial hall entirely painted and gilded in baroque. As the German University of Breslau it produced or employed several Nobel prize winners, among them Paul Ehrlich and Max Born.
- Market Hall · A food market of 1908, built of brick outside and inside with great parabolic arches of reinforced concrete, an early experiment with the material that Breslau’s architects would soon use for the Centennial Hall.
- Sand Island · A small island in the Oder with the brick Gothic church of Our Lady on the Sand, rebuilt after the war, and the old university library. Footbridges cross from it to the cathedral island.
- Tumski Bridge · The green iron bridge of 1889 to the cathedral island is covered with thousands of padlocks left by couples who throw the keys into the river.
- Ostrów Tumski · The cathedral island, where the first bishops settled around the year 1000. About a hundred gas lamps still light its streets, and every evening a lamplighter in a cape and top hat walks round lighting them one by one with a long pole.
- Racławice Panorama · A painting about a hundred and fourteen metres long hung in a circle, showing the battle of 1794 in which Kościuszko’s peasants with scythes defeated the Russians. It was painted in Lwów in 1894 and brought here after the war with the Poles who were expelled from that city; it was shown again only in 1985.
The hall, the cemetery and the church of peace
Beyond the old town Wrocław has a world-heritage concrete dome, the old cemetery of its Jewish community, and an hour away a church of wood and clay built under a peace treaty. Half a day to a full day.
- Old Jewish Cemetery · Opened in 1856 and closed in 1942, a romantic cemetery of ivy and old trees where the families of Breslau’s Jewish bourgeoisie lie, among them Ferdinand Lassalle, founder of the German labour movement, and the parents of Edith Stein, the Jewish-born philosopher who became a nun and was murdered at Auschwitz. Bullet marks of 1945 scar some stones.
- Hydropolis · A science centre about water, built inside an underground reservoir of the 1890s that supplied the city, with exhibits from the deep ocean to the water cycle.
- Centennial Hall · Built in 1913 by Max Berg for the hundredth anniversary of the war against Napoleon, its dome of sixty-five metres was then the largest reinforced-concrete dome in the world, far wider than the Pantheon. It is a world heritage site, and beside it a fountain plays to music in summer.
- Japanese Garden · A garden laid out for the same exhibition of 1913 by a Japanese gardener working for a Silesian count, with a pond, bridges and a tea house, restored with help from Japan after the flood of 1997.
- Ślęża · A lone mountain rising from the Silesian plain, a sacred place for the pagan tribes before Christianity, with ancient stone sculptures of a bear and a woman with a fish, and a ring of stone walls on the summit.
- Church of Peace, Świdnica · After the Thirty Years’ War the Catholic Habsburg emperor allowed the Lutherans of Silesia three churches only — outside the town walls, without towers or bells, built of wood, clay and straw only, and finished within a year. They built this, one of the largest timber-framed churches in Europe, for some seven thousand people, painted inside in full baroque. It is a world heritage site.
Getting to Wroclaw and getting around
- Wrocław Airport · About thirty minutes by bus to the centre
- Wrocław Główny · A castle-like station of 1857; fifteen minutes’ walk to the square
Cheap eats in Wroclaw
Wrocław eats Polish and Silesian: pierogi of every filling; żurek, the sour rye soup; and the Silesian Sunday plate of beef roulade with round potato dumplings, kluski śląskie, and red cabbage. The city has a strong craft beer scene in its old cellars. A plate of pierogi costs a few euro.
- Market Hall · Pierogi at the market counter
- Old Town Hall · Beer in the medieval cellar
- Rynek · Silesian roulade in the square’s restaurants
- Nadodrze · Cafés and craft beer in the old courtyards
- Plac Solny · Coffee among the flower stalls
Museums in Wroclaw
Wrocław’s museums tell the story of a city that changed nations: the panorama brought from Lwów, the art of German Silesia, and the Jewish community of Breslau.
- Racławice Panorama · The great circular painting
- National Museum · Silesian Gothic and Polish painting
- University · The Aula Leopoldina and the tower
- Old Jewish Cemetery · The Museum of Cemetery Art
Nature and day trips near Wroclaw
Wrocław is a city of water, with the Oder split into channels around a dozen islands and more than a hundred bridges, parks along the banks and a holy mountain on the plain.
- Sand Island · Boats and kayaks on the Oder
- Japanese Garden · A pond garden of 1913
- Ślęża · A hike up the holy mountain
- Ostrów Tumski · The botanical garden beside the island
Things to do in Wroclaw with kids
Children love hunting for the bronze dwarfs, the zoo’s African oceanarium, the water science centre and the dancing fountain.
- Papa Krasnal · Hunt the bronze dwarfs
- Afrykarium · Hippos, sharks and penguins
- Hydropolis · Water science in an old reservoir
- Centennial Hall · The multimedia fountain
Holy places in Wroclaw
Wrocław’s District of Four Denominations holds a Catholic, a Lutheran and an Orthodox church and a synagogue within a few streets; beyond it are the cathedral island and a wooden church of peace.
- White Stork Synagogue · The synagogue that survived
- Cathedral · The cathedral and its tower lift
- Church of Peace, Świdnica · A Lutheran church of wood and clay
- Old Jewish Cemetery · Graves of the Breslau community
Nightlife in Wroclaw
Wrocław is a big student city with one of the liveliest nights in Poland: the cellar bars around the Rynek, the courtyards of Nadodrze, and the lamplit cathedral island for a quiet walk.
- Rynek · Cellar bars around the square
- Nadodrze · Bars in old courtyards
- Ostrów Tumski · The gas lamps at dusk
Frequently asked questions about Wroclaw
What is there to see in Wroclaw?
The top sights in Wroclaw are Rynek, Old Town Hall and Papa Krasnal. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Wroclaw?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Wroclaw without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Wroclaw?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Wroclaw, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The square and the four faiths.
How do you get to Wroclaw and get around?
The main ways are Wrocław Airport and Wrocław Główny. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Wroclaw, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Wroclaw that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Wroclaw for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.